It's a start

[falcon409]

Decided I was going to learn to do some simple custom buildings even if it killed me, lol. This is the control Tower at Wheelus AFB, Libya. Very unique design. I won't say how many I trashed before I got to this point, lol.

[Bomber_12th]

Looking good, Ed! It only gets eaiser with the more hours you invest and the experience you gain. Hopefully we'll be able to see some fully custom-made sceneries from you down the line!

[falcon409]

Looking good, Ed! It only gets easier with the more hours you invest and the experience you gain. Hopefully we'll be able to see some fully custom-made sceneries from you down the line!
That's what I'm hoping as well John...we shall see. I have a lot I need to do for North Texas Regional as well and it's right down the highway from me so I have access for some good images there.

[rdaniell]

Way to go Ed. :applause: That is looking really good. :medals: I can say from personal experience that being able to create your own custom scenery objects is the only way to be able to make the sceneries of the local airports that interest you.

Please continue to post your progress.:salute:

RD

[falcon409]

Way to go Ed. :applause: That is looking really good. :medals: I can say from personal experience that being able to create your own custom scenery objects is the only way to be able to make the sceneries of the local airports that interest you.

Please continue to post your progress.:salute:

RD
Thanks RD. . .it was your recent posts that spurred me on, so I'm tackling it head on and referring a lot back to the video tutorials when I run into something new or something that's already explained that I didn't understand the first time. Long way to go, but at least it looks like the picture, lol.

[Paul Domingue]

Decided I was going to learn to do some simple custom buildings even if it killed me, lol. This is the control Tower at Wheelus AFB, Libya. Very unique design. I won't say how many I trashed before I got to this point, lol.

I thought it was Graves Lighthouse in Boston Harbor? Just kidding Ed, its looking good.

[Dimus]

Another one bites the "3d" dust!:icon_lol:

Looking good Ed. Give me or RD a shout if you run into issues importing it to FSX or texturing it.

[Roger]

That's great to see Ed:applause: I might even have a go myself for the long, dark, winter months.

[rdaniell]

That's great to see Ed:applause: I might even have a go myself for the long, dark, winter months.

That's a good idea Roger. That way you'll get the nice warm light reflecting off your computer screen onto the upper half of your body. Nice warm light is good for your mental well being.:jump:

RD

[MCDesigns]

Nice work Ed! Being able to create your own objects opens a whole new world to FS design.

[Sundog]

Nice work Ed! A journey of a thousand polygons begins with the the first poly, or something like that. ;)

[falcon409]

I appreciate the encouraging words. Similar to how I approach everything is to make it as difficult as possible, when it actually can be relatively simple with practice. Not that I've mastered anything of course, but it wasn't very long ago that I was unable to even construct a simple house without cussing and banging my head on the keyboard, lol.

Added some texture to get a better idea of how it will look. Made some changes to the top and cut in the rest of the windows, added the railing and started to add the window panes. The one thing that I noticed from the photo I have though is that the base (the brick section) is actually taller than what I show....I don't want to start over, but I may have to inn order to get that part right.

[Paul Domingue]

The one thing that I noticed from the photo I have though is that the base (the brick section) is actually taller than what I show....I don't want to start over, but I may have to inn order to get that part right.

Can't you grab the polys from the top of the brick section and raise them a little higher? I don't know much about SketchUp but I would think it's possible. I would hate to see you have to start over but that is the curse of the modeler.

[falcon409]

Can't you grab the polys from the top of the brick section and raise them a little higher? I don't know much about SketchUp but I would think it's possible. I would hate to see you have to start over but that is the curse of the modeler.
I'm not sure Paul, it isn't apparent in this image, but there is a slight taper to the entire tower and I don't think that it will continue that taper when I try to pull. It'll be tomorrow before I get back to it, but I'll do some testing. . .after all, there's always the "undo", lol.

[falcon409]

Fixed. . .just pulled the bottom down, reset the ground level to "0", then stretched the base to fit the slight taper. Looking better, I just need to add the antenna on the roof and work on importing it into FSX. I'd like to see what it looks like in the sim.

[Roger]

Which version of Sketchup can be imported into FsX?

[rdaniell]

Fixed. . .just pulled the bottom down, reset the ground level to "0", then stretched the base to fit the slight taper. Looking better, I just need to add the antenna on the roof and work on importing it into FSX. I'd like to see what it looks like in the sim.

For future reference....If you find that you have to pull something "down" below the 0 point in SketchUp, you can always just set your elevation to reflect this in ADEX. Example....Say your object is -10 feet below the starting point, then you could just set your elevation to +10 feet in ADEX. This puts the object on the ground in FSX.

Roger, you asked about importing from SketchUp into FSX. The short answer is NO. The SketchUp DAE file has to be converted to a BGL file first. Model Converter X is used for this.

RD

[rdaniell]

I thought maybe this would help anyone interested in getting into making scenery objects.

1. SketchUp to make the objects.
2. Model Converter X to convert the objects to a BGL format along with DDS textures.
3. ADEX to place the objects in FSX.

RD

[falcon409]

Thanks RD. . .I googled the process and got it converted pretty quickly. The current model is now in FSX, but not as it should be. The textures are apparently a problem and I'll have to fix that. The "stucco" and the "red" were dropped during the "minimize drawcalls" I think. Anyway, I have to get going here, helping my daughter move today so I won't get to work on this again til this evening.

[MCDesigns]

Ed, if you keep the model simple enough and use one texture sheet, you won't need to minimize drawcalls. Looking good!

[rdaniell]

Ed, if you keep the model simple enough and use one texture sheet, you won't need to minimize drawcalls. Looking good!

That's something I've yet to learn :running:how to do. Making one texture sheet that is. I've watched the tutorial several times;:isadizzy: yet, NO JOY.

RD

[hairyspin]

That's a good start. :applause: The place to go for more info and help is the FSDeveloper (http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/index.php) forum. Scenery development is the busiest section of the forum imo and there are many Sketchup users.

[MCDesigns]

That's something I've yet to learn :running:how to do. Making one texture sheet that is. I've watched the tutorial several times;:isadizzy: yet, NO JOY. RD Don't feel bad, I have sketchup and sketchup pro installed and I can even figure out how to apply textures, LOL I get frustrated and go back to Gmax, LOL. I assume you define what part of the image you want when texturing, correct? Just make your texture ahead of time with all that you need on one sheet and apply each part.

[MCDesigns]

Ok, based on my last post I was curious about mapping custom textures in SU. did some searching and here you go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye-D8UpRD8k

Now you can just make a single sheet and apply each part as needed.

[Kiwikat]

This thread motivated me to download sketchup and follow a couple tutorials as well. It isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Now to look into texturing... :icon_eek:

[Kiwikat]

2 hours later and I've got a good start on my first travel trailer. I've always wanted to add some campgrounds in FSX... :mixedsmi:

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd141/whippetstorm/TravelTrailer_zps6cc118dc.png


This sketchup thing is pretty addicting. Can't believe how late it is now... -_-zZ

[Francois]

Good to see more SU converts join me :icon_lol: Well done Ed en Kiwi

As to the question further up: all SU versions can be converted to show in FSX...... you use ModelconverterX to .... well..... convert. There is NO WAY to import anything directly into FSX. :wavey:

[rdaniell]

This thread motivated me to download sketchup and follow a couple tutorials as well. It isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Now to look into texturing... :icon_eek:

Kiwikat, your travel trailer is looking good. :applause:But like I've warned before: Man! Once you get the scenery bug, it is addictive and I don't know of any treatment nor cure...:icon_lol:

RD

[rdaniell]

Ok, based on my last post I was curious about mapping custom textures in SU. did some searching and here you go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye-D8UpRD8k Now you can just make a single sheet and apply each part as needed.

MCDesigns, here is an example using custom textures. The doors on this hanger were made from:running: a photo.

RD

[rdaniell]

Once you get the shape of the object like you want it, you can then make a few changes so you have different objects. This is the same hanger as above but, with some open doors. I also changed the corrugated metal sides a little.

RD

[Paul Domingue]

See what you started Ed! My Addon Scenery folder is already over 11Gbs and before to much longer I'll have to by a separate drive for all this new scenery development you are stimulating! :isadizzy:

[falcon409]

See what you started Ed! My Addon Scenery folder is already over 11Gbs and before to much longer I'll have to by a separate drive for all this new scenery development you are stimulating! :isadizzy:
lol, I won't take credit for the "push", I think folks saw that I was able to figure it out and thought. . . .if "he" can figure it. . .then so can I, lol. I went out to my airport this afternoon and took shots of the Terminal, the Tower, the hangar I used to work in, the Fire Dept. and one other hangar, plus the old FBO (which is now a Flight School). Shots of all sides of the buildings and close enough that I think the resolution should be pretty good. I've got plenty to practice on now.